Admitted kidnapper says he was on acid when he snatched girl in botched burglary

Snorsky, an Aurora artist and deli employee, said he was high on acid and looking for money when he broke into the house that night. He said he grabbed the girl in an attempt to quiet her when she caught him in her room

By BRANDON JOHANSSON Staff Writer, Updated: November 27, 2013 7:39 am

BRIGHTON | John Snorsky admitted to police he snatched an 8-year-old girl from her bedroom late one night in October, but he said he was high on acid and it was just part of a botched burglary, according to court testimony Tuesday afternoon.

Snorsky appeared in Adams County Court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on kidnapping and other charges stemming from the incident in late October in north Aurora.

Police arrest photo of John Snorsky, Jr.

The judge ruled there was ample evidence to try Snorsky on the kidnapping charges and scheduled Snorsky’s arraignment for Jan. 29.

Snorsky, an Aurora artist and deli employee, said he was high on acid and looking for money when he broke into the house at 1666 Hanover St. that night.

Aurora police Detective Christine Hurley, the lead detective on the case, said Snorsky asked a few days after Snorsky’s arrest he asked to speak with a police sergeant he was friendly with from his time working at Sub Stop near East Sixth Avenue and Sable Boulevard.

At the start of that interview, Snorsky said “my life is over” before detailing what happened that night, Hurley said.

He told police the lights were off in the room but the window was open so he climbed in and was on the bottom bunk of a child’s bunk bed when he heard a small girl’s voice.

He said he grabbed the girl in an effort to keep her quiet and ran with her toward his car, where he dropped her and sped away.

The girl, however, told police that her light was on and her window closed when a man broke in.

Adams County District Attorney Dave Young told the court he doesn’t buy Snorsky’s story, saying he doesn’t believe he went there to score quick cash.

“This was not an attempt to steal a purse,” Young said. “This is an attempt to kidnap a little girl.”

Police told the court that the girl said she got away from Snorsky after pinching him and screaming for her father.

Defense attorney Emily Lieberman told the court that prosecutors are making a “major stretch” in saying that Snorsky wanted to kidnap the girl instead of get in the house for cash.

She said police had to point to an unsubstantiated claim from one of Snorsky’s friend that in 2012 he tried to molest the friend’s 4-year-old daughter. Snorsky was never charged with any crime in that case and Lieberman said police only learned of it after the friend came forward following Snorsky’s arrest.

Snorsky was engaged and talking with his lawyers in the courtroom, but he did not take the stand in the hearing.

Snorsky, 26, is facing four felonies — second-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary and enticement of a child — as well as misdemeanor assault and child abuse charges.

If convicted of all the charges, Snorsky could face more than 40 years in prison.

Hurley said the girl skinned her knee and palm when Snorsky dropped her in the alley, and scratched her back when Snorsky pulled her through a narrow 14-inch opening in the window. That gap was particularly small, Hurley testified, because the girl’s bunk bed covered the bulk of the window.

Police say DNA evidence proves Snorsky is the man who briefly kidnapped the girl Oct. 28 from her home on Hanover Street in north Aurora. The girl yelled from help and her abductor dropped her in an alley behind the home, police said.

Snorsky was arrested two days after the kidnapping on separate theft charges. He is also accused of violating his parole in a 2004 burglary case.

He is being held in the Arapahoe County Jail on separate theft charges and is due in court on those charges next month.